The Nazis' secret weapon: they were High (on Crystal Meth!)

HITLER'S propaganda stressed the importance of keeping fit but in reality his soldiers were taking drugs

The troops were taking addictive and damaging chemicals to make them fight longer and more fiercely. The Daily Mail reports a study of medicines used by the Third Reich exposes how Nazi doctors and officers issued recruits with pills to help them fight longer without rest.

The German army's drug of choice as it overran Poland, Holland, Belgium and France was Pervitin - pills made of methamphetamine, known today as crystal meth

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Thousands of Nazi soldiers were using the drug by the time the Soviet Union was invaded in 1941. About 200 million Pervitin pills were given to Nazi troops between 1939 and 1945, research by the German Doctors' Association revealed. A pharmacologist from the GDA said this week: "The blitzkrieg was fuelled by Pervitin. The idea was to turn ordinary soldiers, sailors and airmen into automatons capable of superhuman performance." The downside to the scheme was that many soldiers became addicted to the drug and of no use in any theatre of war.

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The Nazi doctor behind the plan to prescribe Pervitin was Otto Ranke, the director of the Institute for General and Defence Physiology at Berlin's Academy of Military Medicine. He found that the drug gave users heightened self-confidence and self-awareness. On the eastern front, where the fighting was the most savage of the war, soldiers used it in massive quantities against an enemy that showed no mercy.

In January 1942, a group of 500 troops surrounded by the Red Army was attempting to escape in temperatures of -30C. The unit's medical officer wrote: "I decided to give them Pervitin as they began to lie down in the snow wanting to die. After half an hour the men began spontaneously reporting that they felt better. "They began marching in orderly fashion again, their spirits improved, and they became more alert."

Towards the end of the war the Nazis developed a coc aine-based stimulant for front-line troops to keep them fighting despite intense fatigue. The drug, codenamed D-IX, was tested at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp north of Berlin, where prisoners loaded with 20kg packs were reported to have marched 112km without rest.

Source: www.news.com.au...

Well, you can read the rest of the aritcle to see that the Germans weren't the frist ones to use drugs for combat-not by far.

This all reminds me to the US movie called Jacob's Ladder. If you get a chance, watch that one.
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This would, of course, explain a lot of the cruelity behind the Germans and their very determined match against, well just about everyone.

I would find it hard to believe that the officers could keep control of the guys on the drugs... much less trust them on the stuff-to save YOUR life? But, I guess under the right circumstances, there is a place for such things... like when you are about to have you position over run by more guys than you got... and they maybe on some type of drug too... ugh.

When I was growing up, there were two "odd" dudes around town. Rumor was that they had been subjected to Military Drug Test and it messed them all up. The one who is still alive still calls out my old high school nickname whenever he sees me... almost 30 years later. But, odd as hell.

Wow. Nice find. Could explain a lot. Maybe we will all receive these same pills under Obamacare so we can toil endlessly for our masters and never become exhausted. Work, minions! WORK!!

reply to post by anon72


Great OP, but it wasn't just the Germans!

Famous Amphetamine users

The list includes US soldiers during WWII. Winston Churchill, JFK, and Hitler himself.

They are still used for extended flight operations, and most of the ADHD drugs are stimulants.

I've heard Adderall called "coc aine-light" and I know of college kids grinding and snorting it!

it wasnt just the Germans, but also the Japanese.


the "kamikaze" pilots were injected with it. Hitler preferred injections as well.

This is very revealing news.
Neat find that puts some wierd and gruesome loose ends to rest in my head.
I have always wondered how the high command got the rank and file german soldier to commit such gastly attrocities wherever they went.
The Metamphetamine explains much of the perverted behavior of the german troops.
The officers and men could easily have been almost psychotic by the wars end.Couple the heavy use of meth with the brutal and horrific scenes of war and i am sure you will soon produce a disturbed personality capable of the most disturbing grossness.
It explains the lact of compassion which the troops displayed as well.
The egde which has long been attributed to intense motivation and superior training is now just a dope habit gone to war......
I am sure you will find that we also have been feeding speed to our own troops in large quantities when they are in cklose combat

reply to post by getreadyalready


Many soldiers did drugs. some still do, the biggest thing that chnaged was in 1982 military began drug testing on a large scale. There were alot of people getting out after that. unfortunately aot of coke heads didn't get caught due to how fast it leaves the body. Many great Marine Operators (read: recon) were kicked out because they smoked the plant of plants. The sad thing is many drunks were also retained! imagine who you would want beside you in a fox hole:
1: a tweeker (meth head)
2: a coke head coming down
3: a drunk with a hangover
4: a pothead, alert and hearing every sound (the whole "paranoia" thing helped many survive ambushes in Nam..believe that!! i was trained by them and they were the Old Marine Corps!!!

reply to post by getreadyalready


the [methyl] isomer of the amphetamine skeleton is far significantly more potent than amphetamine alone.

the 2 are very similar in mechanism of action and effect, but pretty radically different in potency and halflife.

im just pointing out the difference, as that site seems to want to lump the entire compound family into not only 1 drug ("amphetamines"), but 1 group of users..

there are 4 isomers to an amphetamine salt that i am aware of, one of them is harmless and many of you have likely used it yourself in those little vicks inhalers, 2 are used for ADD and have potential for abuse but nothing major, and then there is meth which is the usual culprit when you see those crazy rednecks on cops with unlimited strength and energy.

sorry, pet peeve of mine.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by anon72

 

Great OP, but it wasn't just the Germans!

Famous Amphetamine users

The list includes US soldiers during WWII. Winston Churchill, JFK, and Hitler himself.

They are still used for extended flight operations, and most of the ADHD drugs are stimulants.

I've heard Adderall called "coc aine-light" and I know of college kids grinding and snorting it!

It goes back even further than that.

The Mahabharata, the ancient Indian sanskrit epic, details a 'formula' or a recipe for creating a substance that once consumed by soldiers, would allow them to march and fight continuously for several weeks without rest, *and* without access to additional sources of food or sustenance.

The Indian military is understandably very interested in researching this formula.

I don't quite buy it because as a person who has experimented with drugs I know first hand that meth will keep you up for days without having to stop for food or sleep and will make you even think quicker but after a few days you begin to halucinate and you would be useless as a solider until you finally eat something and get a few days rest.

reply to post by spikey


likely ephedra or khat.


both still in heavy use throughout the world.

also illegal in many countries.

reply to post by thewrongpath


the "come up" and subsequent "crash" would have been less profound/dramatic to those taking the compound orally.



contemporary recreational meth use hardly ever utilizes oral ingestion. this difference in ingestion could explain the difference in experience.

also explains why it took them 30 minutes before they felt "their spirits lifted" (according to article)

Originally posted by RelentlessLurker
reply to post by spikey

 

likely ephedra or khat.


both still in heavy use throughout the world.

also illegal in many countries.

I don't know, it's the first i'd ever heard of those (thanks for that), but quite possibly this recipe mentioned did include it as a component at least...having just peeked at the Wiki for it, ephedra originated in Indo-Iranian areas, so perhaps it was passed along from India.

I just remember reading an article years ago, and thinking at the time, this would be a great substance to ship over to starving nations to provide some temporary relief for the starving people, at least until proper food could be organised and shipped over.

reply to post by spikey


your very correct! plenty of indigenous people have used it for that very purpose for many years.

ephedra use to also be in many western products ("mini thins" that use to be marketed towards truckers, and sold at gas stations). it was also in many "herbal ecstasy" and weight loss products. its generally considered safe, and was only outlawed because its the precursor to meth. it was banned when domestic meth production began to skyrocket around 2002-2003 (i think) so many people might still remember it. (although fat load of good it did huh? )

they are both very medicinal but easily abused. ephedrine use to be in cold medicine, thats why cold medicine use to actually work, and now it does absolutely nothing.

you may remember Khat from those somali pirates that hijacked the american ship. They use it to fight off sea sickness and to have that fearless feeling. during the event when they were towing themselves and the hostage behind the ship, the US navy seals snipers waited until the pirates ran out of Khat before they took them out, knowing they would be restless and disoriented.

This would, of course, explain a lot of the cruelity behind the Germans and their very determined match against, well just about everyone.

Well, Lenny Bruce was a comedian and he was injected methamphetamine by his doctor. The only person he was cruel to was government and interest groups. So that idea is a little flawed.

Not to mention all the kids in college using adderall these days. Another form of amphetamine, only different than meth cause it doesn't have that fancy methyl ring attached.

Amphetamines were issued to the British army, too.
Most notably the LRDG units in north Africa, but also in the other theatres.

reply to post by SprocketUK


Interesting a Western country would announce them using them openly. Did the troops know about the use of them and did they permit and/or agree to injest the chemicals? Or was it done without their knowledge?

Thanks.

Not only were nazi soldiers supplied with speed, in the later stages of the war they were trained how to make it in the field. The "Nazi crank" method of cooking was instrumental in causing the current meth epidemic, as it was easy to do with limited supplies.
I believe that many of the atrocities commited in the later parts of the war by individual units were formented by "tweaker paranoia", by soldiers who were tweakin on crank.

Leave the Nazis alone! They're not the only ones who used speed. I believe I read in 'The Love you make' that The Beatles were high on this drug all through their invasion phase.

Originally posted by SprocketUK
Amphetamines were issued to the British army, too.
Most notably the LRDG units in north Africa, but also in the other theatres.

Do you happen to know whether the Chindits were on anything, they had a hell of a tough war.

reply to post by rebeldog


I had heard that it was US soldiers also and apparently after reading comments here sounds like most but your other point makes me wonder about these guys and if they were still practicing peace pipe type traditions and the effect you would think it should have had on such a complex language and or duty and of course the before/after question or how they could of learnt it in the first place if as well?

In 1942, there were about 50,000 Navajo tribe members. As of 1945, about 540 Navajos served as Marines. From 375 to 420 of those trained as code talkers; the rest served in other capacities.
He also knew that Native American languages notably Choctaw had been used in World War I to encode messages.

Johnston believed Navajo answered the military requirement for an undecipherable code because Navajo is an unwritten language of extreme complexity. Its syntax and tonal qualities, not to mention dialects, make it unintelligible to anyone without extensive exposure and training. It has no alphabet or symbols, and is spoken only on the Navajo lands of the American Southwest.www.history.navy.mil...